“I am really excited about the staff we put together,” Oats said. "I think we have a great combination. Having someone who has been here, knows the area well and has done a great job recruiting at Alabama in Pettway was important. I brought Bryan with me who helped me recruit the roster we had at Buffalo that had us in the top 25 all year. We’ve had a great track record together and he knows what I like, so we work well together. Then we have someone with professional experience at the highest level in Charlie, someone I’ve known for a long time as well. There’s a great camaraderie amongst the staff in the short time we’ve been here. I am a big believer in staff chemistry and I think we get along great. I am excited to work alongside this group of guys.

“All of these guys are non-ego guys. I don’t want a guy who thinks he’s above the program. From the head coach all the way down to the last manager for there to be no ego people. Let’s dive in and see what we can do to serve this program. I think all five of these guys are just like that. I anticipate for all of us to get better as we come to Alabama and establish the kind of culture we established at Buffalo.”

Pettway, the former Alabama guard, has been on staff with the Tide since 2008 and is now working under his fourth different head coach at Alabama.

“In getting to know Antoine over the past couple of weeks, he’s one of the best individuals I’ve ever met,” Oats said. “He’s got no ego, he’s not entitled and he’s got great relationships with our guys. I interviewed all the players when I first got here and the feedback I got on him was that he really cares about each of them. He recruited a lot of them and the fact that he helped sign the three guys coming in was big. I talked to a lot of people about him and it was all great. I thought it’d be good to have some continuity on staff and I am excited to work with Antoine.”

Hodgson was part of Oats’ staff during each of Oats’ four seasons as the head coach at Buffalo. Before Buffalo, Hodgson was an assistant at two junior colleges — Midland College in Texas (2013-15) and Jamestown Community College (2010-13).

“Bryan is one of the best recruiters I’ve been around,” Oats said. “I initially hired him at Buffalo and he quickly proved that was one of the best decisions I made. He was able to get high-level talent and he’s got an eye for talent. He knows exactly how we want to play so there’s a chemistry there in terms of knowing who we want to bring in and what type of player we need.”

Henry was the head coach for the Chicago Bulls’ G League team the past two seasons. He was previously an assistant for the Bulls and at Iowa State under Fred Hoiberg. Henry’s first coaching job was under Oats at Romulus High School in Michigan in 2009.

“I’ve known Charlie for 10-plus years and gave him his first coaching job as my assistant coach at Romulus High School,” Oats said. “I’ve seen him climb the ladder. He works hard and has one of the sharpest minds around. I called him frequently while I was the coach at Buffalo to bounce ideas off him. He was an assistant coach in the NBA and head coach in the G League, so he has the knowledge of NBA concepts, but it’s also a big plus that was he in Division I at Iowa State for a few years so he has both sides.”